


The Sky is Falling

by booknfun



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27811738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booknfun/pseuds/booknfun
Summary: Fire is suddenly raining down from the sky.  Where will they find food? Water? What happened?
Relationships: Jim Hutton/Freddie Mercury
Kudos: 3





	The Sky is Falling

**Author's Note:**

> DL Bingo Space AU some light flirting between Jim and Freddie but nothing more. No graphic violence (lots of violence just off screen though.)

Space AU

1969  
Freddie was on his way to college the bus seemed to be taking forever. There weren't many people on the bus, one passed out drunk in the back, another student that he’d seen around but never met, and one waitress impatiently looking at her watch must be running late. He wanted to go in early to play on the piano before going to class. He got off at his stop paying no attention to what was going on around him. In his bag was an egg timer so he didn’t run late for his classes. Freddie sat down at the piano and set the egg timer. Slowly he let the music pull him in as his fingers danced on the keys.   
The egg timer’s ring was overshadowed by a massive explosion that shook the ground making Freddie jump in shock and fear. Parts of the roof were falling into the auditorium and people were screaming. Sirens were sounding and he could smell fire in the air. He rushed outside and saw fire streaking down from the sky. People were trampling each other trying to get to safety one fireball shrieked down and straight through the street sending shrapnel everywhere. Freddie went back into the college and down the stairs. In one of the silly student films he did they let them use the basement for some sort of horror movie. He had saw an old bomb shelter while down there. The fireballs might make it to the underground but maybe the bomb shelter would be deep enough. After some frantic searching he found the door and flung it open and ran down the stairs making sure to close the door behind him. The stairs seemed to last forever finally it opened into a long disused room. Old equipment and tables and such littered the area but it was dead silent. The lights were somehow still working. He silently explored holding his bag. A hallway beckoned a distant boom and rocking made him look upwards hoping he had made a safe bet. Suddenly he heard the door opening and people frantically rushing down the stairs. One tall curly haired man close to his own age with a guitar case, one blonde man with sunglasses and a backpack, one teenager with brunette hair with his mother they all looked scared to death. He doubted he was much better. Distantly you could hear whatever still going on but the old shelter seemed to be holding well.   
The curly haired one looked at the ceiling. “It looks like it might hold.” He looked towards Freddie “Hi I’m Brian. The blonde in the corner is Roger. Um I don’t know who they are though.” he said vaguely waving at the teenager and mother.  
“John Deacon. I was taking a college tour with my mom.”  
“I picked the worst possible day to do this.” came from John’s mom who slid to the floor next to Roger. One big one sent plaster fluttering down and the lights flickering.   
“My name is Freddie and I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. I know fireballs started to come down from the sky and that's about it. Do any of you know what’s going on?”  
“Not a clue.” came from Roger  
“Nope.”  
“I want to go home.”  
“Sweetie soon as I can pull that off I will get you home.” John’s mom declared.  
“You guys must think me real pathetic wanting to go home right now and hide under my bed.”  
“No not really I think that’s a great idea.” Brian stated cautiously moving around the room  
“Can I join you?” Roger asked.   
“Any idea what’s down the hallway?” Brian asked Freddie who frantically shook his head no. Brian cautiously started to enter the hallway only to have another explosion rock the shelter plaster shook down from the ceiling and lights went completely out for a few moments before coming back on. Everyone was now under the table.   
“Does anyone know if there’s a bathroom in here?” Roger asked  
“If there is it's probably down that hallway we’re all petrified of going down.” said Freddie  
“Lovely.” Brian muttered.  
Freddie resolutely left the safety of the table and looked around till he found it the world's oldest flashlight but he couldn’t figure out how to get it to turn on. John came out from under the table and with a bit of fidgeting was able to get it work before going back under the table. Freddie looked at John and then towards the ancient radio system he spotted earlier. “Actually dear I have a project for you.” John peaked back out. Freddie escorted him to the old two way radio “If you can get this fixed we might be able to radio for help.”  
“Right got it. I can do this.” John said with finality before doing things to the radio.  
Freddie and Brian went down the hall and did find a bathroom. The water still somehow worked for how long who knew. Lots of locked doors and doors that opened to empty rooms. Eventually they found a storeroom filled with MRE’s “Well we won’t starve to death at least’ came from Freddie. The hallway went straight on forever with the occasional locked door before opening up to a small barrack style room complete with made beds and footlockers. ”This better not be fate giving us a hint.” Freddie snarked.  
“It could be worse. We have food, water and shelter and are reasonably safe from whatever is going on. Let's get back to the others.” Brian suggested. ”Maybe John has got the radio working.”  
“We could peek out and see if it's safe if he didn’t.” Freddie said.  
“I’d rather hear an all clear from a radio first before peaking out and getting my face blasted off by who knows what.” Brian said firmly.  
“Good point.”  
They finally reached the room they started in and found Roger poking in and out of old filing cabinets. John’s mom was behind her son handing him tools found somewhere or another. “Bathroom is on the left water still on but try not to flush unless you have to. We don't know how long we might be down here and if the water will stay on. We also found some MRE’s fifth door on the right. All the way down there is a dead end with some cots and footlockers.” Brian told his fellow refugees.  
John’s mom went down the hallway towards the bathroom. John came over and turned off the light. “We need to preserve the battery, we might need it later.”  
“Makes sense. Any hope for that thing to work again?” Freddie asked.  
“Yup it will work again very soon. I nearly had it a few minutes ago.” John went back to fiddling with the ancient grumpy device. Eventually in the silence and occasional rocking from a distant explosion a sound came out of the radio. “To anyone receiving this message stay underground or in a shelter. We are being bombarded by a meteor shower. We have no idea how long it will last nor how many other countries are affected. This is not an attack nor is it a drill. Stay indoors preferably underground or in a shelter.” From there the message started to loop.  
“Well now we know what’s going on.”  
“Shit” Brian muttered. “Can you get a live channel where people are actively talking?”  
“I can try.” you could hear John’s stomach rumbling.   
“Ok do we risk the MRE’s from WWII or maybe even WWI or should I see what the basement might have stored in it?” Roger asked  
“Let's check the basement if the door isn’t blocked I know where they keep the food for the vending machine.” Freddie admitted. Roger and Freddie disappeared back up the stairs and came back a long while later. While John worked on the Radio anything edible or drinkable came down into the shelter and the door reclosed with a chilling finality.  
John ate some of their winnings. “How’s it look up there?”   
“There’s some stuff fallen over but the basement is still standing. The door out of the basement opens to nothing though. The building is gone, it's just rubble.” Freddie admitted. “Then I saw more streaks and reclosed the door and we went back down here.”  
John nodded sadly. His mom cuddled him close. They all thought about their families who knows where not knowing if they were dead or alive. John went back to the radio determined to get some sort of life out of it other than the repeating message. Finally he got a channel of very official sounding people trying to coordinate something or another. They all listened in. They were coordinating long term shelter for displaced people. They were also making plans for the burial of millions. London was hit very hard by the storm.   
“For that matter is there anyone transmitting from London? Anywhere in London? Is there anyone alive in London?” came one Scottish sounding voice.  
John “I can’t talk..”  
“Just show me how dear.” John put Freddie on the air. “Hello whoever you are there is still some life in London. I’m not sure how many but there are 5 us in an old bomb shelter under the Imperial College Arts building.”  
“Well if there’s 5 that made it there surely must be more.” Came from one serious sounding woman. “Are you safe, is your shelter holding up? Do you have any injuries?”  
“The shelter is doing ok. The building over it is rubble. No injuries thankfully. Doing ok for supplies as well.”  
“Good I assume you’re on a radio contemporary with the rest of the shelter?”  
“Yes it is the oldest piece of working electronics I’ve ever seen.” Freddie admitted.  
“We can only assume that it will stop working sooner rather than later. The storm is starting to weaken. Stay where you are and we will come and get you.”  
“Understood.” That night they slept in the ancient barracks none of them slept particularly soundly due to nearby impacts. They ate more of the scavenged food from the basement putting off the MREs for as long as possible. John got the radio going after breakfast.

Somewhere out in Space…  
“Lovely the test went perfectly!” for one of his species he was extremely fat looking vaguely like a Rat.  
“Yes yes it should bring many customers to us.” another member of the corporate council exclaimed.  
“Sirs the Trenzi Government is hailing us.” the communications officer said interrupting their glee.  
“They must want to be first in line. Open a channel.” The Presidential Rat said with avarice.   
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!” Shouted the Trenzi Supreme General think very large pissed off cat.  
“This was a planned, authorized test. It went well. You gave us permission.”  
“NOT OVER THERE YOU IDIOT! YOU WERE AUTHORIZED TO DO IT 3 SECTORS AWAY FROM THERE.”   
“What difference does it make? Everything around here is empty, dead planets dead solar systems. Here we are nice and close to Vana 4 I have several meetings tomorrow can’t be late.”  
“Wrong.” he spat.  
“No No they are all dead.”  
“Right at the edge of your primary blast zone is an inhabited class 3 planet. It’s in a small solar system in a vape cloud.” the general said lowering his volume but no less angry  
All of the corporate council's eyes showed shock. There was an inhabited planet without space capabilities and they had just destroyed it. They had just committed genocide. Suddenly dozens of Trenzi cruisers filled their screen. They were in very deep trouble.

Back on Earth...

“Anyone here from the London Arts 5 this morning?”  
Freddie walked over and talked into the speaker. “We’re still here. We haven’t checked the outside yet though.”  
“Congratulations on surviving the night’s bombardment. There are still more coming according to our experts should be here towards sunset. We have reports of widespread fires so be careful. Let us know if you find any more survivors.”   
“We will.” Serious business continued on the radio. “So who wants to stay in case we need to talk to whoever that is and who wants to check the outside world?”  
“I’ll stay.” Roger offered  
“Did we want to see if we can get out of the rubble and look around?” Brian asked and watched silently as Freddie nodded and went over and grabbed his bag and emptied it out. Brian cocked his head “Why are you doing that?”  
“In case we find anything useful while we’re out there.” Brian cocked his head nodded and went to his own book bag and emptied it as well. The basement was even more of a wreck but the roof still held. The checked the door handle to the outside it didn’t feel hot so maybe no fire.   
They opened the door to the outside world. It took a bit of pushing but they were soon free. It was hard to tell where the building had ended and the street began. They carefully made their way to a small hill of concrete and plaster and saw a small corner drug store. It was pretty wrecked but it still had stuff on the shelves. It took forever to make it the small distance. Freddie grabbed a backpack off a display and went to a small display of flashlights and batteries and tossed everything in. He found a little portable radio and put it in the bag as well. Meanwhile Brian was grabbing shelf stable food and tossing it into his bag. Moving from the batteries Freddie found over the counter medicines and was tossing them in almost at random. Band-Aids and Neosporin joined the aspirin and Benadryl. Walking towards the back he saw the pharmacy itself was both accessible and had bottles littering the shelves and floor. Looking around he found some penicillin and some painkillers.   
Brian walked over “What are you doing?”  
“No telling when or if we are going to be able to see a doctor so I’m grabbing some medicine while I can still find it.” Freddie stared at the bottles hoping one would magically say take me I’m useful. Moving his foot showed him another antibiotic he knew which he scooped up.  
Brian “Grab that big Blue book and bring it with you. It’s the physicians desk reference.”  
Freddie nodded, grabbed the book and pushed it into the pack. Once all three bags were full they started back to the shelter. Looking up Freddie pointed at streaks in the sky. Brian shook his head sadly. “Gonna be a long night.”  
Brian and Freddie made it safely to the basement door and into the shelter just as the first impact struck the ground. Roger was running up the stairs “Great you made it I was getting worried. The Radio started shouting for everyone to return to their bases.”  
“Yeah they’re just starting to hit the ground again.”  
John’s mom was pacing the small room anxiously when the three of them came out from the stairs she breathed a big sigh of relief. “No more survivors?”  
“No but we have some more food, medicine, and battery powered stuff.”  
“Let me see what you got for the medicine. I used to be a nurse.” Freddie pulled out his haul of bottles, boxes and the giant book. “Smart choices very smart.” she nodded.  
John popped open one of the flashlights. “I found a kitchen.”  
“How?”  
“Took the door off.”  
“That works.”  
“Lets put the food in the kitchen.” That night they ate in the kitchen desperately trying to pretend they didn’t hear the meteors. They talked about who they were missing. John got the radio going and BBC was transmitting. There were now 2 channels All News and All Music. After about 40 minutes of news they switched to music. Tomorrow Freddie and John would stay and the other 3 would scavenge and search for other survivors. 

Space…  
“There it is, the planet we need is the third one. Transport all sentients first, then animals remember to separate by species. We don't want them snacking on each other. Put them in the cryofreeze vats. Then anything the cultural surveys noted that are still intact or mostly intact. Last but not least plant life. Don’t forget the oceans they got a lot of it and lots of life in them we need multiple samples from all the species we can.”  
“Do you honestly think the sentient species managed to survive the initial bombardment?”  
“We’ll know when we get closer. They are very primitive so be careful. It’s not their fault a bunch of rich idiots just destroyed everything they ever knew.”

Back on Earth...

The night was long but the day dawned and they were still alive. After breakfast they forced the 2 way radio back to life. While the search crew left for the day. Freddie simply took the chair after John did his magic.   
“It's about that time London are you still with us?”  
“Yes ma’am. We went out yesterday, no fires near us but no new survivors either. Going to go out again today.”  
“Good congratulations on making it this far. Be careful if it becomes too dangerous just shelter in place and we will come and get you. We think we found the plans showing exactly where you are so once things quiet down we will be there to get you out.” the serious woman declared.  
“Understood ma’am.”  
“What are your names for the record?”  
“Farrokh Bulsara, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Lillian Deacon.”  
“Are the two Deacons related?”   
“Mother and teenage son. He was checking out the college when it all started. He is actually the one that got this radio going.”  
“Smart boy. And which one are you?”  
“Farrokh Bulsara but most people call me Freddie it's easier.”  
“Alright I will add your names to the known survivors list with an asterisk noting that you are still trapped in London. Are you leaving the radio on when we aren’t talking?” Freddie looked at John who frantically shook his head no and mouthed ‘overheating’  
“No ma’am John says the unit will overheat if we have it on too long. I think the cooling fan is dead.”  
“Rats. Well it can’t be helped. Turn it off for the night and check in tomorrow about this time. Feel free to interrupt anything going on. We'll work around you.”   
“Yes ma’am. Do we have more fireballs coming tonight?”   
“Unfortunately.”  
“Spectacular. London out.” Freddie said, shaking his head and staring at the wall. John moved around him and shut the radio down. Gradually as the day went on Freddie wore down the terrified teens walls and soon had him animatedly chatting away about electrical engineering and music. Apparently John played bass guitar. Freddie laughed and admitted the only reason he was still alive was because he was playing around with the piano otherwise he’d probably be dead. They agreed if they got out of this they would start a band. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and he helped John take another door off its hinges into another empty room. “What are we searching for?” Freddie asked  
“The electrical room. This place has to have it somewhere.”  
Just then Freddie heard a noise and went to investigate. Down the stairs stumbled a man in a torn destroyed suit and a slightly receding hairline he collapsed onto the floor. Freddie moved cautiously over and the man looked up in shock. “Oh my god I’m not alone?”  
“Nope. Welcome to Imperial Art College. There were 5 of us but 3 went out scavenging and searching for survivors. My name's Freddie, what's yours?”  
“Jim Beach. I haven’t seen another live human being since this started. Is there any water or food?”  
“Yes hold on.” Freddie went to the kitchen and made another sandwich and a big glass of water. John was now kneeling down next to their new guest. “Snack and water.” he handed it to Beach.  
“Oh thank the lord.” Jim polished it off quickly with big gulps of the water. He was telling them what he knew not much when the search crew came down complete with another survivor, an Irishman named Jim Hutton, who had just moved to London from Ireland. ‘Your timing is terrible darling.” Freddie said dryly.  
Hutton smiled shyly “I noticed.”  
“Who’s this?” Brian asked.  
“Jim Beach he stumbled in here shortly after lunch.” John stated.  
“Hmm 2 Jims someone needs a nickname.”  
“Some people I work with call me Miami.”  
Freddie and Roger laughed “Miami Beach.”  
“Yup.” Beach said with a smile.   
Lillian knelt down next to Miami “Any injuries?”  
“No just tired and hungry. Freddie made me a sandwich now I just need a nap and I’ll be good to go.”   
Lillian smiled “Maybe take a shower first.”  
“There’s a shower?”   
“Yes no soap but a shower.”  
“There are no clothes for him to change into.”  
“Actually there are some old uniforms in the MRE room.” Freddie reminded them. They raided the room and found a few things that might fit; they were even still sealed in plastic packaging. After his shower he collapsed into one of the beds and after dinner so did everyone else.   
Miami woke up the next day and immediately took stock of the area. Kitchen was stocked with food scavenged from outside. MREs none of which had a good date. In one room there was another table with modern non dusty medicines that must have been scavenged too he thought. John shuffled out next and went to the two way radio and started to get it going for the daily report. “What are you doing?”  
“Getting the radio started so we can make our report.” John said. ”One of the others should be awake soon. It takes a bit of time to get the old girl moving.” After breakfast the radio was ready. Brian would make the report while Freddie Roger and Brian went above ground to scavenge some more.   
There was a steady stream of chatter which Brian hesitantly interrupted with “Um Hello London here.”  
Dead silence. “Excellent and a new voice who might you be?” the woman was back.  
“Brian May ma’am. We found 2 more survivors yesterday, Jim Beach and Jim Hutton.”  
“More survivors! Things are definitely looking up if you can find people still alive so will our professional search teams. There are more meteors on the way but the storm has started to lessen considerably. Be careful and good luck. We will talk more tomorrow.” with that the normal chatter of the channel began again. Everyone came home loaded down with more stuff but no new survivors.   
Except the next day the channel was silent. No amount of hailing or fiddling could produce a connection to the outside world. Freddie came in with the little radio BBC Music was going but the news was silent. 

Space..  
“Far more survived than expected.” the captain noted  
“The Gas Giants are sucking a lot of the bigger chunks up. Probably why the planet survived in the first place. But it won’t survive for long.” the science officer stated she was blue with greenish swirls in places.   
“Apparently there had been a pair of wars since the last time we were here and they learned to build primitive fallout shelters and fortresses. Those that survived the initial bombardment are hiding inside them now.” the sociologist informed the group.  
“We will need more ships send a message to Command more survive than expected.” The captain said getting up from the table briefing was over.

Back on Earth….   
“Do we still go out?” John asked hesitantly. They all looked around at each other.  
“Yes we do we might find more survivors and maybe an answer as to why things suddenly went silent.” Brian said decisively.   
“Let's leave Miami and Jim here to recover some more.” Freddie suggested. “I’ll go”  
“Me too maybe if I can find a telescope or a pair of binoculars I’ll be able to see if we have incoming tonight.” Brian stated. “Roger stay or go?”  
Roger looked at John’s mom who gave an slight nod. “I’ll go”  
“I’ll stay and help take doors off hinges.” Mrs. Deacon said.  
The searchers went out and when they came back something had changed in the outside world. The fires were out. Buildings that were still standing yesterday were gone not like rubble gone but disappeared gone. Brian did not find a telescope or binoculars. The radios were still silent.  
The next day much the same radios were silent only now BBC music had stopped. They remained silent for over a month. The search teams stopped looking for survivors. During this time they got to know each other very well. Freddie was an amazing singer and could play the piano if they ever found one again. Brian and Roger had been in a band before the sky fell where Roger played drums. Freddie joked they had an entire band because John played Bass. They made big plans about the group they would form and music they would play. Miami offered to be their manager cause that is what he did for a living he managed bands not rock bands but hey no one was perfect. Jim Hutton listened quietly usually with a soft smile on his face. He wanted to go to barber school but had been doing landscaping till he could afford it. Jim Hutton and Freddie had a habit of disappearing and chatting alone.   
They were eating dinner when they heard the door. Freddie cautiously left the kitchen and went out to see what was going on. Brian was in the radio room strumming on the red special. He hadn’t really been hungry and told them to split it between them.   
Down came two beings one looked like a two legged cat while the other was blue from head to toe. Freddie’s eyes just about bugged out of his head. The blue one lifted his arm and pressed a button on a wide gauntlet. “Confirmed we found a few more survivors. Sending them up now.” Wait, they spoke English? Then the cat pointed what looked like a gun and shot Freddie, making him disappear. Brian shouted and tried to run only to get hit as well.  
Brian landed in a clean white cell where there was a platform bed attached to one wall and an open door with a bathroom. His guitar layed on the floor near where he fell. Across from him suddenly appeared Roger. Roger got up swinging so hard he fell back down. A bed slid out from the wall while Brian watched.   
Roger tried to talk to him but no sound was reaching his cell. Brian shook his head no and used their signal for outage hoping he’d figure it out. Roger threw his hands in the air and angrily paced around his cell looking for a way out.   
“Attention new passengers we apologize for the inconvenience but an industrial accident has rendered your planet unlivable. The responsible parties will be punished but in the meantime you will be our guests while we rehome you. All living creatures and plants left on your planet will be collected and biologists will do their best to recreate the species. All buildings still intact or relatively intact have been transported as well. Eventually a planet will be terraformed and all the species that have survived will be relocated to that planet. You will unfortunately not be joining them.”  
“That's not ominous at all.” Brian muttered. “You do realize humans are social creatures right we don’t do well alone for long periods of time. Pretty sure at least two of the people I was with will tear themselves apart.”  
“Your comment has been noted. One will be returned to its living parental unit. Advice for the 2nd which is displaying significant stressor signs close to the edge of needing to be sedated?”  
“Put him back with one of us. Pick one at random he’s pretty easy to get along with.”  
“Subject has been relocated.” Brian looked around his cell was still empty and he wasn’t in Roger’s either who seemed to be shouting at the ceiling. Maybe he went with one of Jims. Roger then got relocated into his cell still shouting at the ceiling. Brian tapped him on the shoulder making him whirl around in surprise. “Hey they actually did it.”  
“Yeah so at least we’re in this together. They moved John to his mom. I'm not sure where Freddie is probably with one of the Jims.”  
“You honestly still have your guitar?” Roger looking down incredulously.  
“I was playing it when they transported me.” Brian shrugged  
“The world ended and you still have your guitar.” rolling his eyes   
“You’re just jealous.” With a giggle and a smile  
“Yes I am cause we are now in an empty white room with nothing to do but listen to you strum on a guitar with no amp.”  
“At least we got that I’m going to guess most people are just in empty white cells.” around dinner time they were given pictures of food without explanation making their choices. The food appeared on a table coming out of the floor. Just food, nothing to drink. Suddenly a drink selection appeared. “They have no idea what they’re doing do they?”  
“I don’t think so.”  
Two Days later Freddie appeared outside their cell. He waved at them merrily. “How the hell did he do that?” Brian muttered getting up from where he was killing time. Roger got off the bed and stalked towards the door. Freddie disappeared for a minute and then the clear wall disappeared.  
“Hello darlings, how are you?” He said with a toothy smile. Behind him was Jim Hutton and Miami. He stepped into their cell and showed them how to open the door. “When I turned it off they congratulated me and told me we would be returned to our cells at night no matter where we wander off too.”   
“Great at least we can be together have you found anyone else?”  
“Not yet. Just empty cells I think they were expecting more survivors.” Freddie said sadly. Walking a little further they found John and his mom and sprung them as well. John gave them all a big hug. Exploring they found nothing but empty cells. The lights started flashing their warning it was dinner and bedtime. They were all sent back to their original cells.  
Freddie the next day after breakfast remained stubbornly at the table. He had a mental list of things they needed to get addressed. “Alright whoever is watching us. We need more clothes and the ability to clean our clothes Towels and soap in the bathroom would be nice as well.” Pictures appeared three different types of soap, only one vaguely right he touched the picture and several bars of soap appeared on the table. “Ok now hair shampoo.” Being more precise helped and he got a bottle of shampoo/conditioner. Jim simply watched “Good we are progressing now bath towels.” They got this one dead on the money towels flopped down. “Ok this is going to be a bit tougher. We need clean clothes to change into and some way to wash and dry our clothes.” a box about the size of a garbage can slid out of the wall.   
Jim and Freddie looked down at it “Is that the washer or the dryer or the garbage can?”   
“It both washes and dries. Unfortunately clothing is going to be a bit more difficult the computer just says error in retrieving data.”  
“Alright you lot wear uniforms correct?”  
“Yes when physically appropriate.” Not going to touch that one.  
“How do you fit a person to a uniform?” In the middle of the room an arch came out of the floor. By now they had been joined by the others who were watching in amusement as Freddie dragged things out of the system by polite brute force. “Do they need to be naked or can we do it over their clothes?”  
“Data can be processed without clothing removal.”  
“Ok someone get in.” Brian pushed Roger into the arch. “Thank you Roger.”  
“My pleasure.” he glared at Brian who looked back innocently. It scanned him and a terminal came out with measurements and options. Freddie poked and prodded and suddenly a table appeared this time no seats but now had a clear bag on it with fabric in it.   
“Go try it on blondie.” Freddie demanded. “Keep the arch here we all need clothes.”  
Roger went into Freddie’s bathroom and changed into the clean clothes they fit almost perfectly plain black pants that kinda felt like soft cotton and a white button down shirt. It even had socks, underwear and even new shoes. He went out and gave a turn. “They fit pretty good not what I would ordinarily wear but its clean. I’m taking a towel and some soap and taking a shower.” Roger grabbed said items off the food table and flounced away.   
Brian stepped up next after another quick scan a new bag appeared. “Thank god I reek.”  
Once John and both Jims went in they both disappeared to shower and change. “Alright Lillian your turn do you want pants or did you want me to try and get a proper dress or skirt?”  
Lillian considered for a moment “Pants for now Freddie never know what I might need to do and pants are far more utilitarian. Your turn next show me how.” Freddie showed her the button to press and got into the scanner. Grabbing his new clothes he thanked Mrs Deacon and hit the shower.

Aliens…  
“Our lack of knowledge of this species is embarrassing. We need to coordinate better with the other ships.” The ship's captain a lizard looking creature.   
“I have requested data from the ships that have already departed for the station. I hope to do better soon. I humbly apologize.” the ship’s medic stated he looked human except he had feathers where hair should have been.  
“Not your fault they were found late. Hopefully we don’t find any more.” The big cat sitting at the table stated. He was the head of security. “They seem highly disturbed that there aren’t more survivors. We might want to tell them two shipfuls have already left.”  
“I think 2 of the males are courting.” the sociologist stated watching Jim and Freddie talk. Everyone stared at him. “That is more advanced than we thought this species is, if they are openly courting. The Glelsil came not too long ago and they were burning each other on stakes for witchcraft and being the wrong religion that wasn’t that long ago. This species advances in huge leaps and then drags for a bit and even will reverse course. They forget what is already discovered and then have to relearn it only to find out someone did already.”   
“Interesting, keep an eye on it just in case we have to separate them.” the Captain stated. “Is it just the one couple or is it two?”  
“Pretty sure it's just the one. The other two just seem to be friends but I could be wrong. We know so little about this species, it's an absolute tragedy what has happened.” the sociologist cried in dismay.  
“Those responsible will get their day in court. This is Trenzi territory. Justice will be merciless. The government is extremely upset they had been so careful to stay out of sight of this species even redirecting traffic away from its probes only to have those idiots destroy them.” The big cat said ears gradually flattened against his skull the longer he talked. His homeworld was Trenzi.   
“Tell me did they ever do an art and architecture survey of the planet?”  
The big cat looked confused then looked over joyed “Yes yes they did! Several! We might be able to reconstruct a lot of their cultural relics after all.”  
“Several?” The captain said, confused.  
“Yes they look similar enough to other species that with a bit of disguising teams were able to go there fairly often for all sorts of surveys. The only difficulty was getting on and off unseen.”  
“Ah that explains much.” the captain breathed in heavily. “The final destruction will occur in three days. We will search for as long as we can.”

Four days later the ship left several thousand more humans on board as well as animals of all shapes and sizes and samples from every plant they could find. There was nothing more to find the Earth was gone. The executives after long trials and even longer appeals would eventually be executed by the Trenzi. The corporation behind it all taken apart and all money put into a trust for the humans that survived.   
The ship caught up to other Earth survivors. Freddie’s mother and sister made it but not his father. Brian’s father survived but his mother was among the missing. Roger’s father and mother were both gone but his sister Claire was among the survivors. It took about six months for them to play together for the first time but once they got started they didn’t stop. Queen formed and rose to superstardom on a truly intergalactic scale. The universe would eventually hum to the tune Bohemian Rhapsody.

**Author's Note:**

> Not mine in any way.


End file.
